Amazon introduced us to the world of on-demand products. Everything at the click of a button! A startup based in Tamil Nadu has extended this idea to manufacturing services.
Initially, what used to be a side hustle became a full-fledged business after Tamizh recognised the value of creating a marketplace that brought dispersed suppliers together and connected them with potential customers beyond their existing circle. From 2021-22, Tamizh operated the company as a one-person enterprise. “My vision was to address the demand-side challenge by becoming a single point of contact for all outsourced components. I started with machining and expanded into sheet metal fabrication and achieved an asset turnover of 4 to 5 million rupees within the first year,” he says.
In 2022, Tamizh onboarded Karthikeyan Prakash, Chandrashekhar C., and Iniyavan Vasanthanas as co-founders to develop a common platform to serve their customers, providing an overview of their ongoing projects with Frigate. Frigate’s platform allows the client to track the project’s progress at various stages, from initiation to raw material procurement, manufacturing commencement, quality control initiation, and sales confirmation. “We have employed a tech-based and data-driven approach that involves working closely with suppliers in advance. Through this method, we gather around 120 data points, establishing checkpoints throughout the order process, and understand the customer’s needs comprehensively,” explains Tamizh.
The details of the customers are taken via the Electronics Approval Authority (EAA) to access a wealth of parameters and information about the customer and generate a score which is updated based on their performance. The service buyers can access this information to identify the ideal manufacturer for their specific components. Elaborating on the quality of information collected, Tamizh adds, “We assess whether the customer has the necessary resources in-house or if they plan to outsource certain aspects. We examine their financial turnover over the past three years and their track record in content delivery over a decade.”
The startup has a dynamic pricing system, including credit cycles, depending on the location, product type, services needed, demand, and materials. It takes cuts from the transactions, with margins spanning 10% to 20% per transaction, all managed by the platform.
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